Web browsing is the process by which a user may view multiple (and often linked) webpage documents using a browser, which is typically an application running on a desktop computer, smart TV, laptop, tablet, PDA or smartphone. The user selects desired content, e.g. by entering a search request into the browser, or by clicking on a link within a bookmarks menu or in an existing webpage being displayed by the browser, and in response to the selection, the browser requests a webpage from a content server. To facilitate this process the content server is connected to the browser by a network, such as the internet.
The request identifies webpage data using a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), as described in the Internet standard STD 66 (also RFC 3986). A URL identifies both the content server, so that the request can be properly routed through the network, and the nature of the webpage data which is desired from the particular content server. A URL, such as
www.examplecontentserver.com/index.html
may be considered to consist of two components, a domain component, “www examplecontentserver.com” and a file identifier component, “index.html”.
The content server responds to the request by serving webpage data to the browser. The browser will then use this webpage data to generate a webpage document, which is displayed by the browser. Often, the webpage document is constructed from multiple files, each containing webpage data, and each of which has a particular URL. For instance, a webpage document may be constructed from a marked up text file (for example HTML, XHTML, XML or similar), which itself contains links or references to additional data, such as style sheets (used for formatting the marked up document), scripting instructions (used to make the webpage more interactive), and other media (images, video, and/or audio files). The browser will typically receive the marked up text file first, then parse the marked up text file to identify any linked data, which may be subsequently requested from a content server.
It has recently been proposed to intercept and modify webpage data en route to the browser. This modification may serve many purposes, a simple example being the addition of an advertisement or banner to a webpage. As such, the webpage will display in a similar manner to an unmodified webpage, but the advert or banner will, for example, be included along one side of, or floating over, the webpage document as it is displayed.
It is an object of the present disclosure to present an improved system for modifying webpage data which is for receipt by a browser.